UConn women rout UCF, claim sixth straight AAC title

By Doug Bonjour

Updated
3:37 am EDT, Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Central Florida's Masseny Kaba (5) fouls Connecticut's Megan Walker (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the American Athletic Conference women's tournament finals, Monday, March 11, 2019, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) less

Central Florida's Masseny Kaba (5) fouls Connecticut's Megan Walker (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the American Athletic Conference women's tournament finals, Monday, March 11, ... more

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

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Central Florida's Masseny Kaba (5) fouls Connecticut's Megan Walker (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the American Athletic Conference women's tournament finals, Monday, March 11, 2019, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) less

Central Florida's Masseny Kaba (5) fouls Connecticut's Megan Walker (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the American Athletic Conference women's tournament finals, Monday, March 11, ... more

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

UConn women rout UCF, claim sixth straight AAC title

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UNCASVILLE — Over a three-day stretch, the UConn women reaffirmed what the rest of the country has known for years.

The Huskies are untouchable in the American Athletic Conference.

Even without All-American Katie Lou Samuelson, the Huskies barreled through the competition while barely blinking an eye. Their run to a sixth straight AAC championship was culminated by an easy 66-45 victory over UCF Monday at Mohegan Sun Arena before a crowd of 6,001.

UCF was badly overmatched, just like the Huskies’ previous two opponents — East Carolina and South Florida — were badly overmatched. The Huskies’ incredible AAC unbeaten streak now sits at 120 games.

UCF is in midst of its best season in program history — 26-6 and a likely NCAA Tournament berth — yet the Knights stood no chance. Napheesa Collier outscored them by herself in the first half (16-15), helping the Huskies build a commanding 24-point lead.

Collier, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds. The senior scored 85 points over the three games, breaking the tournament record of 71 held by Samuelson.

“I think she’s the best player in the country,” Abrahamson-Henderson said of Collier. “She’s really good. She’s really good, she’s really strong, she’s really tough. She’s hard to guard. She can play multiple positions; she’s a perfect four. She can handle the ball, she can stretch you out and do a lot of things. She’s a special player.”

“She is,” added UConn coach Geno Auriemma. “She is the best player in the country. Let’s put it this way, I’m open to suggestions who’s had a better year. So, you can try to convince me, and I’ll be open-minded about who rebounds better, who plays better defense, who scores more and who’s more durable and plays 40 minutes every night. I would like to know.”

Without Samuelson, the Huskies’ top 3-point shooter, opponents flocked to Collier in the paint. And yet, the ever-consistent senior was steady as always.

“What she does, I’ve said it time and time again, there’s nobody else in the country doing what she does every night,” guard Crystal Dangerfield said.

Added forward Megan Walker: “She’s relentless. She goes and goes. She can do a lot of things.”

Dangerfield had 12 points and handed out six assists, while Christyn Williams had 13 points. Both players were named to the All-Tournament team along with Walker.

Samuelson hasn’t played since March 2 because of a back injury. The senior wants to make sure she’s completely healthy for the NCAA Tournament, which will tip off March 22 or 23 for UConn. At 31-2 and ranked No. 2 in the country, the Huskies will likely be a No. 1 seed.

But first, they will spend a few days savoring this conference tournament title, the 24th in their rich history.

“Everybody that starts Oct. 15, it’s about winning the conference championship,” Auriemma said. “It doesn’t matter which conference, we’ve been in a bunch of them in the last 34 years — different configurations. That’s still always the goal, win the regular season, win the conference tournament and go the NCAA Tournament. That’s what you aspire to do in October.

“I remember back in the days when I used to try to figure out how many home wins we needed in the conference and how many we could afford to lose on the road.”

Make no mistake, the Huskies’ ultimate goal is to win a 12th national championship next month. They know wholeheartedly what’s at stake.

“There’s things we really need to get perfect because there’s such a limited amount of time,” Collier said. “If we lose next game, we’re done. Like I said, do or die.”

The Huskies have been trying to sharpen their defense. They put forth an outstanding effort in that department against UCF, holding Kay Kay Wright — an All-AAC guard and the Knights’ leading scorer — to four points on 2-of-9 shooting. The Knights shot only 34.6 percent as a team.

“That was our game plan. Disrupt their offense, trap the ball-handler, just get out and run after we get a steal,” Walker said. “We did that.”

Thanks in large part to the proclaimed “best player in the country.”

“Do I agree?” Collier said when told of Abrahamson-Henderson’s assessment. “Yeah, I agree. Yeah.”

Unhappy Geno: Auriemma appeared to have a briefly unpleasant exchange with Abrahamson-Henderson in the postgame handshake line. Auriemma later explained to reporters that he was upset UCF employed a trap on the ball-handler late in the game.

“That’s just typical women’s basketball (expletive),” he said. “We clear our bench, we put our subs in and all of sudden, there’s a trap at halfcourt and they haven’t trapped us one time the whole game. It’s just dumb. It’s just dumb. My guys were just hoping that they don’t dribble the ball off their foot.”

Abrahamson-Henderson said her team was “just trying to finish the game, play hard.”

“I had all my subs in and we were just playing hard and having fun,” she said. “You could tell in the second half, they were smiling a little bit more ... playing a little looser.”

Painful start: On the first defensive possession, Walker went up for a rebound and was inadvertently smacked in the face. Walker momentarily left the game with a bloody nose, but returned to score nine points.

“It’s all right,” she said. “It was bleeding. I plugged it up and just kept going. They’re a physical team.”

In the running: Dangerfield was named one of five finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, joining Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon State’s Destiny Slocum, South Carolina’s Tyasha Harris and Syracuse’s Tiana Mangakahia.

Moriah Jefferson is the last Husky to win the award (2016), which recognizes the nation’s top point guard.